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Quriyat - Denmark's Soren Kragh Andersen won the third stage of the Tour of Oman on Thursday as Belgian Ben Hermans retained the overall lead.
Andersen edged out former world champion Rui Costa on the uphill finish at Quriyat at the end of the 162km run, with Hermans, winner of Wednesday's second stage, in third.
Other contenders for the overall victory including Frenchman Romain Bardet, second at last year's Tour de France, and 2015 Vuelta a Espana winner Fabio Aru of Italy, finished in the top 10 in the same time as Andersen.
Friday's fourth stage is a hilly 118km that finishes on the flat but the overall winner should be decided on Saturday's Queen stage with it's finish on The Green Mountain, a 5.7km climb with an average 10.5 percent gradient.
Results from Thursday's 162km third stage of the Tour of Oman finishing at Quriyat:
1. Soren Kragh Andersen (DEN/Sunweb) 3hr 53min 11sec, 2. Rui Costa (POR) same time, 3. Ben Hermans (BEL) s.t., 4. Laurens De Plus (BEL) s.t., 5. Jakob Fuglsang (DEN) s.t., 6. David De La Cruz (ESP) s.t., 7. Romain Bardet (FRA) s.t., 8. Merhawi Kudus (ERY) s.t., 9. Fabio Aru (ITA) 4sec, 10. Lachlan Morton (AUS) s.t.
Overall standings
1. Ben Hermans (BEL/BMC) 11hr 00:15, 2. Rui Costa (POR) 2sec, 3. Jakob Fuglsang (DEN) 10, 4. Merhawi Kudus (ERY) 18, 5. David De La Cruz (ESP) 21, 6. Romain Bardet (FRA) s.t., 7. Laurens De Plus (BEL) s.t., 8. Soren Kragh Andersen (DEN) s.t., 9. Fabio Aru (ITA) 25, 10. Janier Acevedo (COL) s.t.
